Within ten minutes had them standing just outside the main city limits of City U. People were screaming from flames of destruction all over. Saitama looked at his pets to nod.
"Find it. Don't hurt it. Just contain it. And help the survivors," he said to them. Cold Snap was already working on finding survivors. Black Sperm was doing the same with his clones. Genos realized that Kamiko was with him, and he winced at what to do.
"Keep all with me that cannot fight!" Wind Crane said. She hunkered down to revert into her monster crane form to show she would protect those that needed it. Fumio and Tacki were quick to hop onto her back.
"I can help with the wounded. Bring them to Wind Crane so I can see to them," Kamiko nodded. That had Genos pause, smile and press a kiss to her cheek. He ran off to help the others right after.
"I'll be back for ya when I know it's good," Kamikaze said to Tacki. She gave him a thumbs up and watched him dart off with Bane.
"I shall work with the flames to contain them," Fire Flight said and focused. "I can absorb their heat to snuff them. Ah. Bright Bolt, make the clouds so Blue Ripple can make the rain? I know you can also make rain, but Blue Ripple can enhance them even more."
"Oh! Totally!" Bright Bolt nodded and did just that. Blue Ripple focused to hydrate the clouds and enhance the rain storm. Rendor was leaping over building rooftops with Tatsumaki hovering over him. The rain let up after most of the fires were gone, and Mitsumi was kept dry from Blue Ripple's spine necklace. Stable Rock sat down and looked up at Saitama with a cute tilt of his head.
"This place is a mess," Saitama frowned. "We can't even find the monster that did this! Can we?"
"I…found…it…" Stable Rock said and glanced to the left of them. "It is...confused…"
"Oh! That means we may be able to have a new family member!" Mitsumi beamed. "Please lead us?"
He snorted and started to lumber forth. Bright Bolt jumped in front of Mitsumi and Saitama in his larger form for them to ride. Saitama nodded and helped Mitsumi up before he joined her. Tangled Vine, Overgrown Rover and Blue Ripple were able to join them to get carried with them.
"Stay with Wind Crane for now," Garou said to Lily. "I was told the main monster involved was located. I know you can help and likely won't get hurt, but you're having our baby. Just…for now. Please?"
"Oh…" Lily blinked and blushed softly. "Okay. If you need me, though…"
"I know," Garou chuckled and kissed her. Wind Crane bobbled her head to show that Lily would be protected. He bolted off with Zenchu to start scouring the area. They met up with the others confronting a monster that resembled something akin to a dark blue lamp post like one would see on a street corner. Both of its hands were lanterns that could fire flames from them. The face almost resembled Black Sperm's face being a silvery metal mask that had a horrid scowl. Spindly wires were its feet, and a large, multi-faceted glass bulb was on the top of its head that could glow brightly.
"A…street lamp?" Saitama gave a puzzled look.
"I loved exotic lamps and lights of all kinds! Then I became this overnight! I am to show the world that light must exist in any form!" the monster howled and towered over them at 9 feet tall.
"Eh…how long were you like this?" Saitama asked.
"Who cares?!" the monster spat. "I need to bring the light!"
"I'm sure of that. What's your name?" Mitsumi asked.
"My…what…?" the monster blinked at them.
"Yeah. Your name. What can we call you?" Zenchu asked and flicked his tail. "It's not often we see a moving inanimate object."
"Eh…I punched out someone that turned into a car," Saitama shrugged. "His name was his license plate."
"Really?" Mitsumi mused. Garou nudged Zenchu with a small grin.
"Yep. One punch. It died," Saitama nodded.
"That's so sad! I hope that one is at peace now," she frowned.
"What are you talking about? Stop ignoring me!" the monster growled.
"Tell us your name and we'll talk to you. Until then, I'm talking to my wife," Saitama said. "And don't be stupid. My pet that I'm riding on works with electricity. He might kill you faster than you think."
"I totally could!" Bright Bolt nodded.
"Anyways, your name?" Saitama asked. "Give us your name if you want us to talk to you."
"I am Majestic Lightness!" the lamp monster said proudly.
"Why does that sound like something I'd hear a character say after a combo fighting move?" Garou blinked. Zenchu barked out laughing at it.
"Wake it up," Saitama muttered in Mitsumi's ear. She smiled and sent her fans over to swirl around the monster. At first it tried to attack the fans. Then it paused at the scent that washed over it. It stood there with complete confusion when something broke, and it looked down at its body. It gasped with horror and started to panic at what it saw.
"Easy now," Mitsumi soothed and walked over to gently clasp its arms. Saitama moved off of Bright Bolt's back to join her.
"I…did I do all this…?" Majestic Lightness blinked at all the destruction. "I mean…no…this wasn't...!"
"I know. You were in the mind of a monster rage. You're free now," Mitsumi said slowly. "Do you remember your human name?"
"My human…I think…yes! Isobe. That's my name! Um…did I really call myself Majestic Lightness?! Wow," Isobe blinked. "I was…a guy, too. I really did love collecting rare forms of lighting. Ah! My collection! I don't know how long I was like this for! I have to…!"
"Where did you have it? We'll go now and safeguard it," Mitsumi nodded.
"This way!" Isobe said and was quick to start leading them down the street. He turned a corner and paused at the sight of Death Gatling raising up his guns.
"STOP!" Mitsumi shouted and leapt right in front of the monster with her fans out. "He's free! He's my family now! Stand down right now!"
"Ah…oh…" Death Gatling blinked and lowered his guns.
"You defended me…?" Isobe asked with silent wonder.
"Yes. I see you as a big brother. That's who you are, right?" she smiled up at him. The lamp monster trembled and nodded. "Good! Let's find your collection and secure it. We can have it all transferred to my home in City Z. Also, my sister, Tacki, loves to repair things! If anything is damaged or broken, she can fix it like new."
"Ah! Yes! Okay," Isobe said and was able to continue leading them.
"A collection?" Death Gatling asked.
"Yep. Apparently he loved lights. He turned into one," Saitama shrugged and kept an arm around Mitsumi.
"Who's going to fix this city? It's completely trashed!" Death Gatling frowned at a building on fire. Then he paused when the fire extinguished to nothing and saw Cold Snap zipping around as a small spark.
"My son will take care of the fires," Mitsumi nodded. "I'm sure Metal Knight will work on rebuilding rather quickly."
"He is…slow…" Stable Rock snorted and stared at a building. They all paused to watch the building rebuild itself from the ground up. When it was done, Stable Rock grunted, "I am…earth…itself. I can…repair…the rock…but not…the rest. That…will be…for others…"
"That is amazing! Thank you!" Mitsumi beamed and got a loving snuggle from him.
"Can you do that to all of the buildings?" Saitama asked. Stable Rock grinned and focused. All of the buildings were reformed within five minutes. All that had to be replaced now were the doors, windows and interior furnishings.
"Wow…" Death Gatling gaped. He looked over to see Metal Knight's hovering robots working to rebuild plumbing, cabling and the rest of the building structures. A smaller robot now sped over to hover with them.
"That was impressive! I shall take over the smaller work from here," Metal Knight said and had his robot hover off.
"Thank you!" Mitsumi smiled and waved. Then she saw Saitama reach down and scratch his pet intensely between the ears. That got Stable Rock swooning with complete delight.
"Lady Mitsumi!" Scout said when he flew down to join them.
"Scout! I was wondering how you were," she smiled.
"Yeah, I know. I was busy getting a good layout of the home in City Z. I'm going to give Inichi some information, and I know there's something we need to look into when you get back," the bird monster said.
"We'll be there tomorrow," Saitama nodded.
"I will wait for you there," Scout said.
"Wait!" Mitsumi said to get him to look at her with a nod. "This city was just attacked. Isobe was the reason, but he's free now and will be in City Z shortly. Please fly over the city and ensure there are no trapped civilians?"
"Oh! Definitely! I'll get with Wind Crane now!" he nodded and flew off to help. Death Gatling was simply stunned at what he was witnessing. Garou rose a brow and looked at Zenchu. The shadow monster shrugged and they started to walk with the others.
"Wait! Aren't you the Hero Killer?!" Death Gatling said to Garou.
"Was. I was the Hero Killer. Lady Mitsumi woke me up. I'm her brother now. I feel stupid for what I did. Not much else to say," Garou shrugged while walking. Just as he was about to turn to block a swinging gun at him, a fan set had spread out and blocked it for him. The blades flicked out and turned the gun into shards of scrap metal. Mitsumi was livid, but Saitama calmed her gently before picking up a piece of the ruined gun.
"Why did you attack him?" Saitama asked and began to pinch the piece in his fingers to flatten it. Then he folded it in his fingers and did it again. Then again. Death Gatling's eye was twitching that it was a weapon that couldn't break or bend. And this guy was doing just that! And those fans destroyed it first! Then Saitama picked up a bullet and squeezed it in his fist to feel it go off. He opened his fist and let the used bullet fall to the ground harmlessly to show he wasn't even hurt by it at all. Much less have his glove show any form of damage.
"I hope we will be on better terms should you come to Neutral Grounds again," Mitsumi seemed to huff. Overgrown Rover growled, but went quiet at Saitama's small glare to keep calm.
"Yeah, that was a dick move," Kamikaze said with Tacki on his shoulders. He was right behind Death Gatling with a hand on his sword. He chewed the stick in his mouth and looked up at Tacki. "You saw that, too?"
"I did! So rude!" Tacki sighed. "You know he would have done that to me if I was still a monster. Bad habits are always hard to break."
"Bad habits?!" Death Gatling scowled.
"Yes!" Tacki said. "Because Garou didn't do squat to you! He told you he was an idiot! And you still tried to attack him! Moron!"
"Just a kid," Kamikaze shrugged.
"I am not a kid!" Death Gatling fumed.
"Stop it. Both of you are acting like playground bullies now," Mitsumi said to get both men to look at her with shock. When Mitsumi rested her eyes on Death Gatling, he actually stiffened with a form of fear. "Don't ever attack a monster in my presence again. Especially after I woke them up. If you do, you will deal with me. I know Saitama could easily flick you away. But I will shred you into pieces before he can even touch you."
"Nope," Saitama said and squeezed her. "You don't hurt anyone. I have to play the part of being the overprotective husband. Let me do my job."
"But Saitamaaa!" she pouted and frowned hard at him. "He tried to hurt my brother! Garou did nothing to him at all!"
"I know. And you already did something. And so did I. Besides, I said it before and I'll say it again. His bullets are easy to catch. And they break easy, too. I just squeezed one and it didn't mess up my glove. Don't worry about it anymore. I'll get in his way if it happens again. Which it won't. Right?" Saitama cut his gaze to let his pupils smolder with flickering coals.
"Ah!" Death Gatling gasped and backed away with shock.
"Glad we had this talk. Don't be stupid. Okay, let's go find your stuff," Saitama said to Isobe. He scooped up Mitsumi and proceeded to walk with her. Garou and Zenchu glanced at each other and wisely stayed quiet while following again. Stable Rock snorted with a form of disgust at the whole thing before lumbering after them. Tangled Vine leapt onto his shell and began to let new plant growth appear to beautify the areas around them. Death Gatling was completely speechless and stalked away with a small sulk.
"Can I static cling him?" Bright Bolt asked.
"Eh…waste of energy. But…if he goes near a broken lamp post…" Saitama mused with a small grin. He turned around the corner with the others and paused at the site of a giant grocery store. It was untouched, and he saw there was a massive sale going on. "Ah…!"
"We'll check it out after we see to Isobe's collection," Mitsumi giggled.
"I can start looking for you, Dad?" Cold Snap asked when he appeared on Saitama's shoulders. Saitama glanced up at him and found himself smiling.
"Eh…no. Stay with us. You'll come with us, though," Saitama chuckled.
"Can I get held?" Blue Ripple asked. He shrunk smaller and levitated himself to rest in Mitsumi's arms with relief. "I'm not used to all this walking."
"I know. It's okay," she soothed and giggled at his deep purr. "The fires are put out now?"
"Yeah. Everything is clear. Fumio is with Wind Crane," Cold Snap said. Black Sperm appeared to walk with them, and several clones were already working with Metal Knight's robots to help repair buildings.
"When do you plan to make more of your friends?" Saitama asked Black Sperm. "I need to know when."
"Oh! Back home. I have, um, enough. Will do that then," Black Sperm nodded. "I know! All good or die."
"Okay," Saitama nodded back.
"Where are we going?" Tacki asked from Kamikaze's shoulders.
"We are going to see where an eccentric light collection is stored," Mitsumi smiled. "You might be able to repair something, too."
"Oh! Cool!" Tacki beamed. They walked up to a small warehouse, and Isobe opened the heavy door from the combination lock. They all stood in awe at the light fixtures that filled the five thousand square foot place. Tacki jumped off Kamikaze's shoulders carefully and moved to examine a broken chandelier. "Hmm. The base is cracked. Some of the arms are deteriorated. Is that seaweed…?"
"It came from a shipwreck," Isobe nodded. Tacki moved to a beautiful mirror lamp that was supposed to hang on a wall. Isobe was able to explain what each light fixture was, and Tacki was impressed at finding a few light fixtures dating back four hundred years.
"What's this one?!" Mitsumi said and carefully pulled up a wall sconce. It had figures of a crane in flight on all sides.
"That one nearly bankrupted me! I was told it belonged to the legendary Wind Crane Clan and…and…" Isobe paused and stared with shock at the sight of the crane fans coming out to display themselves. "Wait…"
"Yes. I am the last known Wind Crane Clan assassin," Mitsumi nodded. "May I keep this? I will double what you paid for it. If you desire that, of course."
"But…oh…well…I am a monster now…I mean…" Isobe grimaced.
"We might be able to cure you. How much did you pay for it?" Saitama asked. "We can easily pay for it. And, hey. If you live with us, you can still be a caretaker for it."
"Oh! Well…hmm. I paid over twenty thousand yen…" Isobe frowned.
"I will pay you a hundred thousand for it," Mitsumi smiled. "And you can still protect it if you live with me."
"How…do you have…?!" Isobe blinked.
"I am Mitsumi Takashi. I am the sole heiress to my family's vast fortune. Money is…nothing to me," she chuckled. Isobe stared at her with shock. "In fact, I can help you get even more priceless lights and fixtures. Many of them would look amazing when they start to work, so we can utilize them!"
"I…if I stay with you…I may as well stay as monster to fool those into thinking I look like my collection. I think that might work," Isobe mused. "I mean, if I get cured, well…we'll see what happens."
"Definitely! That would be an amazing opportunity!" Mitsumi beamed.
"I'm sure you can even show us where we need light, too, in darker parts of the home," Saitama nodded. "We need that to keep people out of our home."
"I can help with that!" Isobe grinned. They looked over to see Inichi, Fubuki, Tatsumaki and Rendor walking in.
"Wow…" Fubuki breathed with awe.
"This is Isobe's collection. He had a Wind Crane Clan lantern! I'll have to show this to Wind Crane Clan Mother. It may help us unlock another secret from the clan. We'll need to revitalize it to ensure it works," Mitsumi smiled.
"I can fix it up," Tacki said and examined it. "I'll likely have all of the items here repaired and working within a week."
"What?" Isobe blinked at her.
"Yep! I'm like, mad crazy like that," she grinned.
"Yeah. She is," Kamikaze chuckled.
"I might need some stuff from you," she said to Stable Rock.
"Let me…know…when…" he nodded chuckled at her small head pat.
"Okay. Food? Relaxation now?" Saitama asked.
"We can work on sending all of this home. Metal Knight will have a storage unit ready for us shortly," Inichi nodded. Cold Snap smiled to get Inichi giving a wry grin. "Yes, I'm sure you can get over half of this over with no issues."
"I could do all of it. The entire warehouse," Cold Snap grinned widely.
"What?!" Inichi gaped.
"Do it," Saitama grinned at his son.
"If he can do it, I want him to snag our warehouse from City Y," Zenchu grinned. "That would be something."
"Everyone outside!" Cold Snap ordered. He was still on Saitama's shoulders, and he reached out to Scout to know where to send the building. Metal Knight would ensure it would be set up, and a new warehouse would be in its place within the hour. Once Cold Snap had the mental details, he focused to let the building structure flicker and form into a small, ice blue spark. It trailed off into the distance, but Cold Snap kept his focus on it until he blinked his glowing, ice blue eyes with delight.
"It's done?" Tatsumaki mused.
"Yep! It will be fixed up now, and no one is allowed in until allowed," Cold Snap nodded. Isobe sighed with relief and seemed a bit puzzled.
"How do I get there?" he asked.
"Allow me," Inichi said. He had reverted to his monster form when they arrived, and he now bubbled Isobe to quickly fly him to the City Z home. Robots had soon appeared to start building a new warehouse on the empty plot of land, and Wind Crane landed in her massive crane form. Mitsumi showed her the lantern to get her to clack her beak with excitement.
"Yeah, it reveals a secret," Zenchu chuckled.
"Sweet! Okay, we'll find out to what when we get back to our room," Saitama said. "Son, send that home to our bedroom. Check my thoughts."
"Okay, Dad," Cold Snap nodded. He sent away the precious lantern and they all looked over to see a hero in a fighter's uniform charging over with a purpose. The hero's feet looked black from lack of shoes or covering, and Zenchu knew exactly who it was.
"Ugh. It's the foot guy," Zenchu cringed.
"I will not grab at his foot again. Ever," Saitama said to get Mitsumi snickering softly at the memory.
"Are you responsible for this?!" Fight Foot scowled.
"Nope. We are responsible for fixing the place up," Saitama said.
"I'm talking about this empty space!" he said and pointed at the lot behind them. A hovering robot was quick to appear and focus a camera.
"I am Metal Knight. The warehouse was damaged and now being replaced with a new one. Please go about your way before you get in the way," he said through the camera.
"And the monsters here?!" Fight Foot growled.
"They are my family," Mitsumi said and let all of her fans flick the blades and spikes out. "You attack them? I block you from that. And I won't just shred your coat this time."
"Ah…" Fighting Foot blinked.
"So, you did replace your top. Okay. I'm about to go home. With my family and friends here. You can go away now," Saitama said and scooped up Mitsumi to hear her soft giggle. When Fighting Foot refused to leave, Stable Rock brought up a solid slab of sheer rock wall.
"We leave…now…" Stable Rock growled.
"Not yet! I saw the market! I want to look there first," Saitama said.
"Can I zap him?" Bright Bolt whispered to get Mitsumi laughing softly.
"Eh…" Saitama sighed. "Light static cling as we leave."
"Yes!" the electrical monster snickered with joy. Wind Crane clapped her beak with disgust at the hero on the other side of the wall, but she rose up her wings to let the wind carry them away. The rock crumbled down into nothing, and Fighting Foot was soon swearing at the static that invaded his clothes to zap at him. If he knew it was going to be like that for an hour, he would have been livid at the whole thing.
She took them to the grocery store to let them browse around. She had to become human to fit in a bit more, and Zenchu had her on his arm. Garou was lightly going over things with Lily, and even Genos was with Kamiko to find a few things of interest. Saitama and Mitsumi had a shopping cart full of things for their home, the restaurant and to snack on now and then. It was only after the purchases were done that Wind Crane was able to take them back to Hero Association.
"What do you think?" Siren asked in her husky tone while sitting next to Metal Knight in his underground base. He had her using a headset to keep track of various audio feeds and she set it aside.
"That one has been a nuisance for some time," Metal Knight sighed and flowed his fingers over the keyboard. "I fear he may get it in his head to try and track down our home base in City Z."
"Let him," Siren chuckled softly.
"I wouldn't give him the pleasure of doing so!" he said with disdain to get her laughing at him. "Absolute waste of time!"
"Maybe he can test our track…?" she crooned.
"Hmm…" he mused.
"Maybe get chased by monsters…?"
"Maybe…"
"You know, I still need to be 'rescued'."
"That you do! Hmm…"
"They plan to be home tomorrow. Shall we plan for it then?"
"I think…the idea does appeal to me…" he mused again. He went still when she fluidly moved from her seat to stand behind him and rest her arms over his shoulders. He glanced at her with a small grin and asked, "And what are you plotting, my dear?"
"Oh…just if I need to be rescued now…or if we should wait…" she said with indecisiveness in her tone. He studied her silently and set various tasks to auto-pilot. Then he moved to swirl his chair around and pull her into his lap.
"The only thing that needs rescuing is this chair if it doesn't get us to our bed," he grinned a bit wickedly. She laughed at that and let him kiss her passionately to start the short travel distance.
Back at the Hero Association, Saitama and Mitsumi were finally reclining in the new treasure bed with sheer delight. The television was being watched, and all of the pets were seated around the bedroom with complete comfort.
"Dad! Orotsu sent us lunch!" Fumio said.
"Good! Bring it in," Saitama nodded.
"It really does feel good to relax," Mitsumi sighed and nestled against him. He nodded and fed her a piece of teriyaki glazed lobster. "I think I could nap."
"Go for it," he chuckled and kissed her forehead. Overgrown Rover grabbed his hand with its mouth to put on her belly. He nodded and grabbed the remote to start flicking through the channels. He felt her give over her weight in sleep, and he found himself yawning. He checked the time and thought to Inichi.
:It is safe to rest for three hours. Worry not. I shall wake you if anything happens.: Inichi chuckled. Saitama yawned again and found himself drifting off to sleep shortly after. The pets nodded to each other to show they would be on guard. Stable Rock knew that Wind Crane had gone back to check on the nest. He knew she would be back the moment the resting couple woke up. He yawned and settled to watch the television. He rested his head on his paws to relax and silently guard with the others.
